This is an annual column where we stop to take a look around each of the four divisions at the midway point of the season. The purpose is to analyze the first half of the season to tell you where the teams stand today and where they are likely headed over the second half of the season.

 As always I pick the two teams most likely to meet in the championship game, hand out mid-season all-state picks as well as our mid-season player & coach of the year.

 If you are reading this article you have chosen to support the coverage of high school sports and our seven person team which is happy to bring it to you.

 On behalf of Pete, Jen, Jon, Justin, Reed  & Eliot I say thank you!

 Thank you to our Division II Gold Level Coaches who are a big part of our NHsportspage team: Mike Soucy (Hollis-Brookline), Mike Larson (Pelham), Mike Gasper (Goffstown), Bill Clarke (Coe-Brown), Cole Etten (Bishop Brady), Kieth Matte (Lebanon) and Mike Sullivan (Plymouth)

 

 If forced to pick the two teams that will meet in the final:

 Lebanon vs Hollis-Brookline

 Of the four divisions Division II is the hardest to get a grasp of.

 Lebanon was the huge favorite coming into the season but a foot injury to pre-season player of the year KJ Matte changed their outlook in a hurry. Head coach Kieth Matte is hopeful his son/point guard will return but there are no certainties and especially when it comes to foot injuries.

 The Raiders are not the high scoring team you might expect, they’re winning with defense and execution in the half court. Graham Chickering (10.8 ppg.) often facilitates the offense from the elbow and Ryan Milliken (17.6) is a one man fast break when the opportunity presents itself but with a big frontline of Matt Eylander and Chris Nulty Lebanon is working the ball inside.

 Defensively is where this team has excelled; holding teams to 45 points or fewer in six of their first eight games.

 What the injury to Matte did was take a lot of the pressure off of this team. With Portsmouth moving up to Division I and coming off an 18-0 regular season a year ago with four starters back everyone (unfairly) expected the Raiders to breeze to the title.

 With KJ out the team has revealed just how deep they are, showcased a player like Chickering for his playmaking ability and taken the spotlight somewhere else in the division. Think about it, how often have you heard Pete and I talking about Lebanon on the show this year? It’s been quieter and I think that suits this group & an excellent coaching staff just fine.

 If Matte returns, with a top 4 seed still in their possession, what have they really lost? They will have added a healthy all-state point guard to the mix, a player who thinks a trip to UNH is just something you do every March and the chemistry remains the same.

  Lebanon again becomes the favorite but the three month weight of carrying all of that around will be gone. Other teams like Milford and Coe-Brown have emerged and as of the last day of January no one can tell you who the best team in the division is.

 That’s a burden Lebanon doesn’t have to carry.

 Hollis-Brookline has all the pieces and a veteran head coach who understands what it will take to win in March. When Matt Simco (13.5) flashes to the high post and works the high/low game with Matt Dowling on the low block there are few teams that can stop this offense. Nick Fothergill (15.1) has been as good as advertised at point guard, and he was advertised to be pretty good.

 He has ran the offense and created a nice offensive balance between the ‘Smash Brothers’ down low, glue guy Scott VanCoughnett and shooting guard Stephen Giaconia (by the way I think I called the breakout game against Lebanon).

 Mike Soucy’s team had their hearts ripped out at West last season in the quarterfinals when they were .03 seconds away from Durham, and so they understand tournament intensity. They also do not fear Lebanon. After a win over the Raiders and their current 7-1 record, they have the opportunity to not have to go anywhere for the quarterfinal but certainly not up to Lebanon to face the pre-season #1.

 The other major contenders to be the last team standing:

 Milford:  A big one looming on Friday night at Hollis-Brookline. There are some very good wins on the resume; Timberlane, Pelham, Windham, John Stark and a sweep of Manchester West. Ryan Banuskevich (Player Profile Page) has played at a first team all-state level while Evan Ryan (11.2) and Shane Winnett are two players that opposing coaches immediately bring up when breaking down Dan Murray’s team.

 The second half schedule is fairly brutal with games against Goffstown, Windham & Pelham at home and Hollis-Brookline, Bishop Brady, Timberlane and Lebanon on the road.

 We broke down the Spartans in our Tuesday Scouting Reports (returning next week) earlier in the season. This is a team as good as any in the division today led by a coach who has had the last team standing on two different occasions.

 Coe-Brown: Similarly we are going to learn more about Jennifer Chick-Ruth’s alma mater in the next month. The Bears haven't lost since their season opener against Hollis-Brookline but only one of their nine wins has come against a plus .500 team and that was against 5-4 Kingswood.

 That’s not to say this isn’t a good basketball team, it is, and we will get our first look at them on February 14th when they take on John Stark at home. This is a very good rebounding team that has the athletes to apply pressure full court and get immediate returns on it. Brody Ashley (14.3) has played very well in the backcourt while Sam Lupinacci (17.3), Scott Spenard (13.5) and center Dylan Andrews have been consistently good since day 1 for David Smith’s team.

 We broke down the Bears at length in our Tuesday scouting report a few weeks ago, using blind quotes from opposing coaches. The theme that developed was that this was a group that plays very hard and is very well coached.

 The latter is a given, David Smith is a Hall of Fame coach and widely admired by his peers, the former is just as important though. This isn’t a team that worries about who is getting the most shots or all-state consideration. Coe-Brown has a very recent history of surprising people in the post-season, only an early exit would shock anyone in 2017.

 

Pelham: The two time defending Division III champs rely on all-state point guard Kyle Frank (Player Profile Page) as much as any team relies on one player in the state. That’s not to say he doesn’t have weapons around him…Joe Pantaleo is a player any coach would want in his rotation, in any division, and freshman Drew Brown (Player Profile Page) is a deadly outside shooter who is starting to recognize the soft spots in the defense earlier & earlier in games.

 The Pythons though are nowhere near the team they were a year ago and so if Frank has an off-night (it doesn’t happen very often) there isn’t another player on the team able to create his own offense. Brown will get there soon enough but as a freshman in Division II you’re asking a lot this early.

 Mike Larson is doing a really good job with this team in year one. With fewer weapons he is managing the game for 32 minutes and this is a program that always gives you total effort.  A pair of games with Manchester West ( we will have coverage of the first meeting tonight) and Hollis-Brookline still loom. Pelham is going to be a very tough out, the goal for this team would be a pair of home games in the Snake Pit.  

 The verdict is still out on: Bishop Brady (Let’s see how they do Friday night in Lebanon but they have a very good head coach and an emerging scorer in Bryce Johnson), Timberlane (and here comes Timberlane Twitter Hale storm..), Manchester West (consistently inconsistent right now but I don’t think they are far away from figuring it out) and Goffstown (GRINDING you down with defense…).

 

 Your lower seeded team that will be a nightmare in Round 1: Pembroke

 There is something scary about a team that, although they realize they are probably a year away, gets to the playoffs with talent & house money in March. Head coach Shannon Sciria is building this program back up again behind the very talented trio of point guard Noah Cummings (12.2), Jake Sherman (17.2) and Sean Menard (Player Profile Page) .

 This team can flat out score; Menard (25), Sherman (38) and Cummings (24), have each gone for at least 24 points in a game this season and this team will favored in at least four of their last five games.

 Sciria describes last season’s 0-18 campaign in Division I the same way you would expect Tom Hanks to explain what it was like to be on that island for seven years alone in ‘Castaway’. You don’t want Pembroke in the first round of the tournament, they’ll be sprinting out to the center circle for the opening tip.

 

 Player of the Year at the mid-point of the season:  Kyle Frank of Pelham

 We will give Frank the slight edge over a very good field of guards that include..

 Runner-ups: Ryan Banuskevich of Milford, Nick Fothergill of Hollis-Brookline & Ryan Milliken of Lebanon

 

 Coach of the Year at the mid-point of the season:  Dan Murray of Milford

 Did you see Milford getting to this point undefeated? I didn’t….

 

 Runner-up:  Mike Larson of Pelham

 

  First Team All-State (First half of the season)

Kyle Frank of Pelham

Ryan Banuskevich of Milford

Ryan Milliken of Lebanon

Nick Fothergill of Hollis-Brookline

Jacobee Burpee of Manchester West

Bryce Johnson of Bishop Brady

 

Comments: I’m going with six at the half-way point because Johnson is really starting to come on for Cole Etten’s team…

 

 With apologies to: Sam Lupinacci & Brody Ashley of Coe-Brown, Cooper Gorski & Drew McQuarrie of John Stark, Griffin Werth of Con Val, Drew Siemering of Timberlane, Joe Pantaleo of Pelham, Shane Winnett of Milford, Graham Chickering of Lebanon, Matt Simco of Hollis-Brookline, Matt Quirk of Bishop Brady, Kyle Rembis of Windham, Sean Menard & Jake Sherman of Pembroke, Pat Meyers of Kingswood, Benny Gantrish of Hanover, Ryan Hickey of Souhegan, Ryan Hall of Goffstown & Nate Alford of Bow.

 

Coming tomorrow: Division I